My father, who art in heaven
by Rowana Renee
Summary: Will's acting strange and Halt can't figure out what's wrong.


**Happy Fathers' Day, everyone! This is a tribute to my dad, who is now in Heaven, where I like to think he's helping to put carpet in the mansions, as he did lay carpet while he was physically alive and not just alive in memory. I wasn't sure what to do for a Fathers' Day fanfic, but then I thought, why not a songfic? So think about it, for a dad, is there any song besides "Butterfly fly away" (one out of only like three songs by _her _that I like) that jumps out at you to be perfect for them? Well, for me, one from the Lion King is actually what comes to mind. Ah, I'm rambling. Sorry guys, this week's been a little nasty. For the first time in like a year I actually ot upset during a film, then I actually teared up over two women talking about back problems lol, so now I'm going to write one more emo oneshot before turning to an Independance Day tribute ^?^ Oh, also, can everyone who reviews please point out one thing, or more if you feel like it, that you absolutely love about your father? Seriously, please do ^?^ (I'll post mine at the end of this story)**

_My Father, Who art in Heaven_

It was a particularly bright morning in Redmont, the sun was beating down fit to make even children wish to stay inside. But they were staying inside anyway, as it were. After all, it was a holiday. Fathers' Day, to be exact, and spending the day with ones' father was more or less the only thing on the mind of most people. Most, but not all. Some people were a bit too busy, say, keeping the fief from falling into chaos to do much more than jot down a quick letter to their father, while others were just focusing on making plans to stop by for a visit later on.

In one home, however, not a soul appeared to even be thinking about it as more than just another day. Which home was it, you ask? Why, the home of Redmonts' ranger, of course.

The old ranger was sitting in his favourite chair, trying to stay as cool as possible, reading a copy of "Ranger's Weekly" he would have to leave for the annual gathering later on, but that didn't matter for the moment. His apprentice was spending his time doing his normal chores while trying to think about cold things to trick himself into being cooled off a bit. More than once Halt had caught him staring off into space, probably in his own world, and had considered cooling him off quite quickly by pouring a barrel of water on the little scanger. But then, getting too cool too quickly can have the rather nasty effect of killing people, so Halt refrained.

He paused in his reading, having heard a quiet sniffling sound. He turned around and saw Will, finished with his chores, heading into his room, probably to get ready for the gathering. Frowning, Halt called him back. "Will, are you feeling alright?"

Will jumped as if shocked and nodded. "Um...yes...uh...'m fine." he flashed a small smile that vanished just as quickly.

Halt also couldn't help but notice that his apprentice was blinking rather rapidly. "Are you sure? You don't look well."

Will nodded quickly. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be okay?" His voice certainly made him sound as if he'd caught a cold...

"Good Lord, boy, have you caught a Summer chill?" Halt asked, standing up and walking to him, placing a hand on his forhead.

Will shook his head, backing away. "I'm fine, Halt, stop!" he wasn't really yelling, but he sounded a touch annoyed.

Halt raised an eyebrow. "Drink some water; you don't need to get dehydrated before we have to leave."

Will sighed to himself, blinking again. "Halt...?"

Halt, who had turned to go back to his chair, looked at him somewhat worridly. "Yes, Will?"

Will looked away nervously. "Can I...can I stay home from the gathering this time?"

Halt nearly fell over. "What? But this would be your first real one, without having to deal with an attack or..._that_..."

Will shrugged. "I...really don't want to go this time..."

Halt started toward the door. "And why did you even bother trying to tell me you're not ill? Asking not to go to the gathering is a dead giveaway, you can't fool me. C'mon, you're going to the healer."

Will backed away several paces. "No, no, I'm not sick."

Halt rolled his eyes and opened the door. "Remember what happened last time you said that? You were as sick as a rodent on the way bck from Skandia."

Will glared at him furiously. "Did you have to mention that?"

Now that was weird; Will never snapped at him like that...

"Come on, Will, I think you've got a fever."

Will continued to back away. "I'm _not sick_! Fine, I'll go to the gathering...just please stop..."

Now it was Halts' turn to look cross. "You'd best go wait in your room until it's time to go."

* * *

Halt slowly approached the door before knocking somewhat tentatively. He wasn't sure why Will was acting so strange and had no intention of having it happen again; once was forgivable, but twice would be something that he knew he wouldn't have patience for. And Halt didn't particularly feel like having Gilan as well as Will cross with him, after all, all Will had to do was tell Gilan that he was upset with Halt and it would be like the battle of Slipsunder all over again, with the exception of winning. Not, of course, that Will would ever tell Gilan if he was upset, but Gil was so bloody brilliant at guessing how people felt that it wouldn't take long for him to figure it out.

Getting no reply, Halt opened the door quietly and peered inside. Will was lying on his bed, staring at Drargal as if he thought the inanimate creature was going to talk to him. He was muttering something, to himself or to Dragal Halt couldn't tell, and he paused several times to sigh somewhat dramatically. Then he noticed Halt and was on his feet so quickly Halt could have sworn he was an acrobat.

"How long have you been standing there?" he asked defensively

Halt shrugged. "I knocked, you didn't answer. I just came in."

Will continued to glare at him for a moment before looking away. "Is it time to leave yet?"

Halt nodded a couple of times. "Yes, actually. Are you sure that you don't really want to stay here?"

Will shrugged and said nothing, brushing past Halt and heading to the stable to get Tug.

Halt huffed and looked around. "That went well. Very very well. Congratulations, Halt, he's finally hit that weird stage at age sixteen and a half, you've kept him from going insane even longer than you did with Gil. But now you've got one of those scary youths on your hands. You've made someone in Heaven very angry with you, you foolish old man...and you're talking to yourself. Brilliant. Life is good..."

* * *

Halt glanced back at Will, who had for once been quiet and refused to ask a single question. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? You're very quiet-"

Will didn't answer but rather shot him a loathing look.

Halt looked down at Abelard, petting one of the ponys' ears affectionately. "I'm doing great." he muttered before turning his attention back to Will. "See those tracks?" he asked, pointing at some in the ground up ahead. "What made those?"

Will shrugged. "Something with feet." he growled.

Halt looked at Abelard again, sighing. "Okay."

A few more minutes passed in silence before Halt slowed Abelard to a stop. "Alright, Will, start talking."

Will looked up, surprised. "What?"

Halt nodded. "We're not going any further until I know what's wrong with you." he said, almost threateningly.

Will shrugged. "Nothing's wrong." he said, urging Tug forward.

Until Halt grabbed the ponys' reins. Well that wasn't very fair, was it?

Halt shook his head. "Do you really think I believe that there's nothing wrong? You've been acting weird all day, and I'm tired of it. Do you have any clue how much I'd love to set you straight the old way?"

Will glanced up, looking a little worried. "But Halt..."

Halt rolled his eyes and let go of the reins. "You'd best get back to normal within the next few hours, because if you do anything foolish at the gathering you know I won't hesitate to remind you why it's not a good idea to act like everyoe else your age. For goodness sake, I thought you were more mature than you've been acting today."

Will shrugged and shook his head. "Can we go now?"

Halt glowered at him and nudged Abelard into a walk again. "What?" he muttered so that only Abelard could hear him, "You think I'm not being hard enough on him. I know. But if he does anything like that again, he won't be able to move for a week."

* * *

Halt glanced back once again, now even more worried that his apprentice hadn't said a word for the past hour. Ah well, that would change soon enough. No doubt Gilan was hiding somewhere in the trees, waiting to ambush them when they walked past. In fact, odds were they were right in the area where Gilan would be hiding.

Halt flashed Will a small smirk. "See Gil anywhere? You know he's waiting to-"

"No."

Halt glared again. "Oh come on. You didn't even look."

Will looked from left to right without turning his head. "I don't see him."

Halt sighed. "Fine then. Get off of Tug."

Wills' eyes widened. "W-why?"

Oh, so he did still have a somewhat correct reaction to things.

Halt dismounted and looked around. "Don't get your arrows in a knot; we're going to wait for Gilan to give up and then scare him. You wanted to the year before last, and now I'm pretty sure you won't kill him by accident."

Will sighed, annoyed, and shook his head. "Can I go home?"

Halt could actually feel his desire to murder his apprentice going up. "Oh for the love of...has one of the older rangers somehow found time to terrorize you or are you just afraid of crowds?"

Will glowered at him fit to burn Morgaraths' bridge for a second time. "I'm not scared...I just want to go home."

Halt wondered how much trouble he could get in for hanging Will in a tree by his ankles. Now there was something to ponder. "Alright. You can go home. But _not_," he said when Will instantly started toward Tug again, "Before you tell me what's going on."

Will closed his eyes for a moment. "I just want to be alone." he muttered

Halt raised an eyebrow. "You've been acting like you're three all day, and now you tell me that that's it?"

Will nodded. "Can I leave now?"

Halt shrugged. "No."

Will gaped. "Why not? I already told you what's wrong!"

"You're lying."

Will was starting to look like he was about to cry. "I'm not."

Halt glanced up at the sun. "Look, we can stand here and argue for the rest of the day or-" he paused for a moment, what was going on finally hitting him. "It's Fathers' Day." he said simply.

"Mhm."

Halt was suddenly slammed into by his apprentice, who was hugging him so hard that he could hardly breathe. "Easy, Will..." he muttered, looking down at his sobbing ward. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Whether Will heard him or not was a mystery. Either way he didn't get an answer until about a minute later.

"I...don't have...a f-father...n-ever me-met him..sh-shouldn'..t c-c-care..."

Halt finally returned the hug. "Of course you should care. Just because you never met him doesn't mean you can't miss him."

Will shuddered and hugged him a little tighter. "I d-do miss h-him."

Halt nodded. "I know. But he's still with you, even if you can't remember him."

Will looked up, tears still streaming down his face. "H-how?"

Halt thought about it for a moment. "I'll show you." he said quietly.

* * *

_Night, and the spirit of life,  
Calling,  
Listen._

The sun was setting when Halt finally remembered where it was, the lake he'd brought Gilan to so many times before. "Here were are." he said, glancing over to make sure Will was okay.

He wasn't crying anymore, but still looked upset, and a little disappointed. "Wh...where are we?"

Halt motioned to the water. "This is what I wanted to show you."

Will blinked curiously. "Why?"

Halt shrugged and very nearly winked. "You'll see in a moment. Wait for the sun to go down a little more."

_

* * *

__And a voice,  
With the fear of a child,  
Answers,  
Listen._

Halt had already set up the tents and had built a small fire, and Will had helped a bit, but was starting to look upset again.

"You know you can tell me anything."

Will jumped, slightly confused. "I'm not supposed to miss him. I didn't know him."

Halt shook his head. "But he's still got the same blood as you, and that counts for something."

Will sighed for perhaps the thousandth time that day. "Maybe. But...he'd be angry, wouldn't he, if he did know me?"

Halt frowned. "Why on Earth would he be angry?"

Will looked away. "He'd be angry that I'm a ranger."

Halt raised an eyebrow. "And what's so horrible about being a ranger?"

Will looked at him as if it should have been obvious. "Because, he was a warrior. He'd be angry that I'm not, right?"

Halt continued to scowl. "No, he wasn't that foolish. You can't help what you're good at, or the fact that you can't train as a warrior."

Will looked around. "That doesn't stop some people from being angry."

"I suppse not, but Daniel wasn't some people, Will. And I think it's about time I can show you now. Follow me."

At the edge of the lake Halt stopped walking, and Will looked at him curiously, but before he could ask anything Halt pointed at the water.

"Look there; now it's dark enough you'll be able to see."

Will glanced down at the water and saw that it was acting like a mirror. "All I see is my reflection. I thought I was supposed to see my-"

Halt nodded. "He lives in you."

* * *

_Wait, there's no mountain too great.  
Hear the words and  
Have faith.  
Listen,  
Have faith._

Will blinked several times, obviously confused. "What do you mean?"

Halt placed a hand on his shoulder. "Daniel was a very noble person, Will, very brave, honest, friendly."

Will gazed up at him blankly.

Halt flashed a small smile. "You're becoming more like him every day, lad."

Will smiled back. "Really?"

Halt nodded. "Really. In a few years you'll be like a smaller version of him, but you can't forget, you're not him. You have to be you as well."

Will once more hugged him so hard he could barely breathe. "Thanks Halt."

"You're welcome."

A few minutes later Will was still staring at the water, though Halt had gone to get dinner started cooking.

Halt motioned for him to come over.

"Hey, listen," he said softly

"Yes?"

Halt looked away, almost shyly. "I'm not your father, but you're like my son. I realized that last year when...well..."

Will grinned, eyes bright again. "You're like a father to me."

_Hey listen,  
Have faith._

_He lives in you.  
He lives in me.  
He watches over  
Everything we see.  
Into the water,  
Into the truth,  
In your reflection,  
He lives in you._

Have faith.

* * *

_"You could have left out the 'smaller version of him' bit, you know. I'm not that small."_

_"Keep telling yourself that."_

_"But Halt!"_

_"Oh, and if you ever tell Gilan, who I'm sure was eavesdropping, that I didn't kill you for that, you'll wish I had."_

_"Oh God, he heard that?"_

_"Probably."_

_"Great."_

_"Wonderful."_

_"Happy bloody Fathers' Day, Halt, I hope you're happy."_

_"You know whose fault this is?"_

_"Whose?"_

_"Your fathers'."_

_"You just hexed yourself; talking bad about the dead is bad luck._

Have faith.

* * *

So how was it, eh? Lame, I know ^?^ As for the thing about my dad, he had a wonderful sense of humour.

He called my paw-paw onetime and said, with an accent, "this is islomic baptist, we need to talk."

and he had paw-paw totally convinced for like an hour lol ^?^


End file.
